Recently I was introduced to the concept of sanding a wall down before painting it. From what I've been told this basically allows the new paint to be absorbed by the walls a lot better than just slapping on some primer and new paint.

Well, I'm intriguiged -- has anybody done this before? Approximately how long should this take for a 500 sqft condo?

I think the benefits are huge if you do this right, and it would probably force me to get new baseboards as well (you can totally tell that the baseboards have been painted over a million times, the walls not so much, but you do feel like they've been painted over rather than new)

al_bundy

04-03-06, 07:31 AM

i had this done when I first bought my place. The walls were sanded down, primed, then sanded some more and then painted. The biggest effect is that it makes the walls look very nice with painting. Otherwise it looks like walls in northern colorado where my wife says it looks like roaches on the walls.

jonw9

04-03-06, 08:15 AM

I usually run some fairly course sandpaper (usually whatever grit I find first) over the wall, just to scuff the existing paint a bit. This is most important for gloss paint, but it will not hurt to do it on others. This is not really for asorbtion, but allows the new paint to adhere better. The primer I used in my bedroom last said sanding was not necessary.

From what I have been reading, washing the walls with a TSP solution is recommended.

al_bundy

04-03-06, 09:11 AM

to add, you are looking at 3-5 days of work and it's well worth it. Once in a while I go see places on sale where they just put another layer of paint on 50 years off previous layers and you can tell the difference

The Bus

04-03-06, 10:11 AM

Just don't sand after the primer. That goes against the whole point.

If you spackle, you may need a second layer of primer.

ChiTownAbs, Inc

04-03-06, 10:48 AM

to add, you are looking at 3-5 days of work and it's well worth it. Once in a while I go see places on sale where they just put another layer of paint on 50 years off previous layers and you can tell the difference

Considering I can barely hold a hammer, I'll hire this project out.

monkeyboy

04-03-06, 11:09 AM

unless the paint is in really bad shape, you don't need to go crazy with the sanding. Just get some 150 grit on a drywall sanding pole and give it a good once over. Once you get the hang of a sanding pole, you can move pretty quick. You don't want big, deep, sanding gouges showing through. For a space that small, it shouldn't take more than a few hours. Go through with a circular motion. You're not sanding off a layer of paint, just scuffing the surface.

Duran

04-03-06, 11:44 AM

Considering I can barely hold a hammer, I'll hire this project out.

Painting is not rocket science. It takes no skill whatsoever. Sand down the wall, prime it, and paint it. There are plenty of specialized edging tools that make it rather easy.

al_bundy

04-03-06, 12:29 PM

a good contractor will also straighten out any crooked walls like I had in my place. If you spend an extra $2000 to make your place look profesionally done compared to just making it look better it can pay off in a much higher resale price.

When I bought my place the previous owner paid one of his friends to do it as cheap as possible and it showed. Same thing with other places I see.

VinVega

04-03-06, 01:00 PM

Just don't sand after the primer. That goes against the whole point.

If you spackle, you may need a second layer of primer.
Yeah. The only sanding I've done is after spackling a hole or crack in the wall.

ChiTownAbs, Inc

04-03-06, 04:11 PM

a good contractor will also straighten out any crooked walls like I had in my place. If you spend an extra $2000 to make your place look profesionally done compared to just making it look better it can pay off in a much higher resale price.

When I bought my place the previous owner paid one of his friends to do it as cheap as possible and it showed. Same thing with other places I see.

This will be the justification I'll use to hire out, but I highly doubt it will cost me anywhere near $2k for 500sqft.

Heat

04-03-06, 04:46 PM

Just buy a handheld orbital sander for $30 or $40 and do it yourself.

It's not rocket science, just put some sand paper in the machine, turn it on, and run it over the wall. For that size, maybe 30 minutes, 45 minutes tops. I just did this a couple days ago for my kitchen. Really, it's simple.

Duran

04-03-06, 05:33 PM

a good contractor will also straighten out any crooked walls like I had in my place. If you spend an extra $2000 to make your place look profesionally done compared to just making it look better it can pay off in a much higher resale price.

When I bought my place the previous owner paid one of his friends to do it as cheap as possible and it showed. Same thing with other places I see.

my building was built around 1950 and I haven't seen walls this bad even in Italy where they use their thumbs as guides in construction. Once in a while I go see an apartment for sale in my development just to get a sense of what the values are and the owners only put a fresh coat of paint on top of 50 years of paint. You look at the walls and see waves and all kinds of imperfections. In my case the contractor got rid of most of the imperfections.

HistoryProf

04-04-06, 01:05 AM

i could see it if it was an older place with many coats of paint to cover....but otherwise it's a waste of time. though my most recent frame of reference is our new home...which is a new build ;)

ChiTownAbs, Inc

04-04-06, 08:48 AM

Um, my condo was built in the late 1950s and while it's had a few remodels, I doubt the paint has been stripped off.

Timber

04-04-06, 10:15 AM

Is it really a good idea to sand walls with paint from the 50's, 60's, and 70's? You know with the lead and all.

al_bundy

04-04-06, 01:00 PM

it depends on local laws

in NYC all lead paint was supposed to have been removed and there is a disclosure form as part of the sale

neiname

04-04-06, 01:35 PM

You may want to have someone skimcoat the walls again as opposed to sanding and painting. That is usually the best way to get the walls perfect for plaster.

neiname

04-04-06, 01:38 PM

it depends on local laws

in NYC all lead paint was supposed to have been removed and there is a disclosure form as part of the sale

I don't think that is exactly true. I think what you sign is that you are aware that there still may be lead paint there (eventhough there was a law in the 70's that stop lead paint from being used) and accept the responsibility. No way all these pre-ware buildings on the Upper East Side have all the lead paint removed. I stripped the doors and moldings in my apartment and I was taking off layers and layers (about 15-17) of paint.

I would recommend the skimcoat if there is a possibility of lead paint, you do not want to be sanding that.

YOUR HOME;Federal Rules on Lead Paint
By JAY ROMANO
Published: May 5, 1996

BY the end of this year just about anyone who buys, sells, rents or leases a house, apartment, co-op or condominium will know more about heavy metal than their teen-age sons and daughters do. Not the musical version but the real thing: Lead.

Starting Sept. 6, owners of more than four residential dwelling units must comply with Federal regulations requiring disclosure of known lead-based paint hazards in dwellings. On Dec. 6, owners of nearly every other kind of residence -- including single-family homes -- will be required to follow suit.

I call this the suburban disclosure act," said Barry C. Hawkins, a real estate lawyer in Stamford, Conn., referring to the Residential Lead-based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992. "Most people associate lead-based paint hazards with inner-city housing and apartment buildings. But now, even the nicest homes in town are presumptively filled with lead paint if they were built before 1978."

According to the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, as many as 64 million homes and apartments contain lead-based paint. Most were built before 1978 -- when the sale of lead-based paint was banned. According to the agency, the ingestion of even small amounts of lead has been linked to severe brain disorders and developmental problems in young children.

The new regulations, which are designed to make purchasers and renters aware of the presence of lead-based paint in dwellings they buy or occupy, subject property owners who do not comply with the law to fines and penalties of up to $10,000 and up to one year in jail.

"But before homeowners start jumping out of windows, they should be aware of what the law doesn't require," said Robert Friant, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, the agency responsible for licensing and training of lead abatement contractors in New Jersey. "The first thing a homeowner should know is that the Federal law does not require the owner to remove lead-based paint from the home. All it says is that if you're going to sell your home, and it was built before 1978, you must disclose whether or not you know if there's lead in the house."

(Many states and municipalities have adopted regulations that require abatement of lead-based paint under certain circumstances. In New York City, for example, peeling or flaking lead-based paint in pre-1960 buildings where children under 7 reside must be removed by the landlord.)

Mr. Hawkins explained that under the new regulations, owners who sell or lease their properties must disclose to buyers or renters any knowledge or information they have concerning the existence of lead-based paint in the dwelling. In addition, the owner must provide a purchaser or tenant with a HUD-approved pamphlet entitled "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home" and must insert written warnings in leases or sales contracts if lead-based paint hazards are known to exist in the dwelling.

Moreover, Mr. Hawkins said, in sales of residential property, the sales contract must give the purchaser 10 days to conduct an inspection for lead-based paint hazards and the right to cancel the contract if such hazards are found. Finally, he said, if a real estate agent is involved in a sale or lease, it is the agent's responsibility to insure that the owner complies with the regulations.

"The obvious intent of the regulations is to get the information out there at the earliest possible moment," Mr. Hawkins said. "And the brokers are the ones who get to the parties first."

Mr. Hawkins added that while property owners must always make disclosure to prospective purchasers, landlords renting homes or apartments do not have to meet the disclosure requirements if the building has been inspected and found free of lead-based paint hazards. Moreover, he said, studio and efficiency apartments are exempt from the regulations, as are lofts, dormitories, housing used exclusively for the elderly or handicapped and housing leased for less than 100 days.

Any special tips for bathrooms? Some of the paint is beginning to bubble and peel in certain places. I assume this is due to moisture trapped behind the wall or getting through the paint? Bad job on my part first time around?

Since the last attempt (3+ years ago?) I have been introduced to Killz and plan on using that for the primer.

SoSpacey

08-18-08, 09:00 AM

Benjamin Moore makes a paint specifically for kitchens and bath. It is mold and mildew free.

We used it in both our kitchen and out bathroom and it has held up well so far.

I never saw this original topic but I couldn't disagree with the above suggestions any more than I do.

Skim coating is a much better solution than sanding walls. Thats the only real way to hide imperfections.

And if you do sand your walls, you better be using tack paper afterwards or all the dust will mix in with your paint.

Superman07

08-18-08, 09:07 AM

Humm...skim coating. What exactly does that mean? Also I'd clean up with a vacuum and wipe down the walls after to collect any dust.

SoSpacey

08-18-08, 09:11 AM

you take a bucket of spackle (think of it like liquid sheetrock) with a spackle knife and skim over the walls with it. Not necessary unless your walls are in bad shape.

When I bought my house my center hall had beams going across the room connected to a frame that was glued and nailed around the whole room. When I removed the frame the glue didnt allow me to paint properly so I had to skim coat the walls with the glue so I could paint it.